Jan 8, 2017
Mumbai: FDA continues to fight gutkha menace
Though it is banned in the state, it is smuggled from neighbouring states and sold in markets in Mumbai; In the past four years, quantities worth over Rs 90 crore have been seized in the city
Women protest against the sale of gutkha.
In 2012, the Maharashtra government banned the production and sale of gutkha across the state. But gutkha smuggled from neighbouring states is still being openly sold in Mumbai. The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), the regulatory body, has in the past four years seized the addictive cancerous product in quantities worth more than R90 crore from more than 5,000 shops in the city.
Gutkha is a mixture of crushed areca nut, tobacco, catechu, paraffin and slaked lime. It is carcinogenic. It was first banned in the state in 2012 under the Food Standards and Safety Act, 2006. But it is getting smuggled from neighbouring states like Rajasthan and Gujarat into the markets of the city. Despite repeated attempts, FDA has been unable to stop the sale of gutkha in the city. Every year, the body seizes gutkha worth crores.
In the past four years till November 2016, FDA has seized gutkha worth Rs 94,24,87,563. Sadly, though the number of shops selling gutkha has fallen, the amount sold has gone up, highlighting a new modus operandi in smuggling it in the city. In 2016 between July and November, 3,659 FIRs were filed against the sellers.
“Earlier, many shops used to keep gutkha but in smaller amounts. Now after continuous raids, few shops are keeping it. But the pattern has changed. The main dealers provide large amounts of gutkha to few trusted shop keepers, which decreases their risk of getting caught,” said an officer.
Need wider ban
Dr Harshadeep Kamble, FDA commissioner, said gutkha is not produced in Maharashtra.
“We have been able to stop the production of gutkha in the state. But it is getting smuggled in the city through the porous routes from surrounding states. On regular basis, we raid shops. We also file FIRs and fine them, but until the ban is implemented countrywide, it is tough to curb the sale completely,” said Kamble.
Gutkha causes cancer
Gutkha is more harmful than any other forms of tobacco.
It is promoted as a mouth freshener, but it is a mixture of carcinogenic compounds. It contains nitrosamines, arsenic, chlorine, ammonium and pesticides, alert oncologists.
“These chemicals may seem harmless to consumers who get addicted to it. It can cause cancer in the mouth, throat, lung and oesophagus. The most common cancer in India is oral cancer. In most cases, it is caused due to consumption of such products,” said Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, neck and mouth oncology surgeon, Tata Memorial Hospital.
Similarly, Dr CS Pramesh, thoracic oncology surgeon from the hospital stated, “Lung cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer in Mumbai and in patients coming across the country. Consumption of such products is responsible for cancer.”
Delhi Government ups ante on tobacco control
During Delhi Government's latest anti-tobacco drive, of the 62 samples of Pan Masala along with tobacco, five samples were found to be unsafe for consumption, and 18 samples were declared mis-branded by the Food Analyst. The government has forwarded its report to the Union Health Ministry.
"Necessary action is being taken in the matter as per provisions of Law," MM Kutty, Delhi Chief Secretary stated in his letter to the Secretary, Union Health Ministry.
Recently, the Union Health Ministry had criticised the Delhi government on its inability to implement tobacco ban, and asked for a status report. Faggan Singh Kulaste, Minister of State Health and Family Welfare had said at an event that Delhi needed to step up its actions on tobacco control. "The sale of tobacco has been banned in the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra. In Delhi, the ban on tobacco has been imposed many times but this is reflected only on papers," Kulaste had said.
Delhi government is among the first to submit its report regarding tobacco control since the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) asked for the status report on its tobacco control measures in December 2016 following a Supreme Court order on September 23, 2016 banning chewing tobacco products.
"The Delhi government had already issued a notification on April 12, 2016 as per Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 prohibiting for a period of one year the manufacture, storage, distribution, or sale of Tobacco, which is either flavoured, scented or mixed with any of the said additives, and whether going by the name or form of Gutka, Pan Masala, flavoured/ scented tobacco/ kharra, or otherwise, whatever name called whether packaged or unpackaged and/or sold as one product, or though packaged as separate products, sold of distributed in such a manner so as to easily facilitate mixing by the consumer," Kutty stated.
According to the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on sales) Regulations, 2011 issued by the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), under the Food Safety & Standards Act, 2006, tobacco and nicotine shall not be used as ingredients in any food products. Thus, banning sale of all food products where tobacco is present as ingredient in the final product, whether going by the name of gutka, pan masala or zarda.
The Ministry had written to all states for issuing strict directions for banning the production, promotion and sale of these food products. However, states such as Bihar, Karnataka, Mizoram, Kerala and Madhya pradesh have issued orders in compliance of the apex Court's order; several states are yet to follow the ban.
As per the MoHFW figures, 34.6 per cent Indians are said to consume tobacco. Of these, 47.9 per cent are males, and 20.3 per cent females. One in every 10 deaths is due to consumption of tobacco and by the year 2030, 80 lakh people would die because of high tobacco consumption.
Hangyo management comes out with a statement on 7am milk smelly issue
BHATKAL — Hangyo’s Dairy Unit has debunked the social media message that its popular milk brand 7am milk is adulterated with chemicals. Social media was abuzz for the last couple of days that Hangyo’s 7am milk supplied in Bhatkal is giving foul smell and looks adultered with chemicals. The smell and texture of 7am milk which was not normal scared the residents.
Talking to Bhatkallys.com, Production Head of the Company Mr. Nitin Kulkarni said, “It appears that 7am milk might have been exposed to higher temperature in handling which might have resulted in enhancement of acidity content thus imparting acidic flavour to the milk.. But we can assure that it is not adulterated .”
Mr. Kulkarni further said, “Ours Dairy Unit is ISO 22000:2005 certified and we take utmost care in checking quality, process & other parameters as per the standards set by the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India. We have been handling milk since last 21 years and never compromised on quality and service. We maintain proper cold chain for milk handling.”
Dinesh R. Pai, Hangyo Chairman, said, “we assure our customers that we will monitor cold chain from procurement chilling centres till dealers and make sure that such problems never recur.”
Hangyo supplies about 4500 ltrs of milk and milk products to Bhatkal out of which almost 3200 ltrs is 7 AM milk.
Dinesh R Pai further stated that “We have already rectified the issues and today there is no issue and our production team is in Bhatkal market today for inspection.
NOW, CAMEL MILK CHEESE
Shalini Saksena speaks with Anne Bruntse, a Kenya-based agronomist specialised in organic farming, who is using camel milk to make cheese
Move over cow, buffalo and goat milk. The latest trend to hit the markets is camel milk and milk powder. You read that right — camel milk! People in States like Rajasthan and Gujarat are already supplying this milk to individuals. Now that Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has given its nod, the milk may soon find its way in other States as well.
But one is told that it is still early days. It will take some time before the milk actually hits the stores. This is because, there are several challenges. First, to change the mindset of the people to open themselves to the idea of having camel milk instead of cow or buffalo. Also, like goat milk that was, at one time, considered milk for the poor, camel milk is for the really poor. But considering that India is making chocolates using camel milk could mean that there will be many willing to drink the milk — even if it is a novelty. Though the taste, one is told, of camel milk is no different than other milks that are already available in the market. Second, is how to get the milk from the interiors to a place where it can be pasturised and then packed and sent? Marketing is another area that needs to be taken care of and who the end consumer is. The pastoralists are constantly on the move. To gather the milk at one collection centre is a challenge that needs to be addressed.
Anne Bruntse, a Danish-Kenyan agronomist specialised in organic farming, including dairying and camel cheese-making, was in the Capital recently. She held a workshop wherein she demonstrated how camel milk can be used to create a simple Halloumi cheese.
The good part was that at the end of the workshop, one could walk away with the cheese that one had made including newfound insights into a relatively rare ingredient. The recipe that Bruntse used is one of the many that are available. But she uses the recipe of Halloumi cheese since it is the fastest way — it only takes five hours to make it. The other cheese making processes using camel milk may take up to as long as three days or even more.
“The reason why it takes such a long time is because camel milk has no coagulant and even the fat content in the milk is extremely low. These coagulants are present in cow, goat and buffalo milk but absent in camel milk. These are enzymes that are made based on the requirement of the calves. I was approached in 2010 to test it and got a box of coagulant to carry out some tests. We did this in 2012 and it all started from there,” Bruntse says, who had been experimenting with making cheese from camel milk.
Since there was no coagulant, the first step was to develop one that can be effectively used. A lot of research was done. It took time before coagulant could be made. Therefore, it is not easy to make cheese out of this milk.
After much experimentation they found a coagulant — pepsin — but it was very bitter. Since the camel milk is resistant to coagulant, a lot of it had to be used making the cheese bitter. There was need to develop a coagulant that did the work and was not biter.
The result, after five years, is that the market is now ready to have cheese like feta, halloumi, cream cheese, etc.
One is told that camel milk has a different composition than that of cow or buffalo milk when it comes to protein, fat content etc. “When a calf is born of a camel, the fat in the milk is very high but as time passes, it keeps falling and by the end of it, the milk is extremely thin. It takes two years for a calf to wean off. This meant that there was lot of extra milk — almost 150 kg in excess each week. More so, after the rainy season.
“To begin with, this milk was consumed by the pastoralists. They would feed it to the dogs as well. Since they didn’t have any means to store it, they would even drink it if it became sour. To make it drinkable, a lot of sugar is added. But then some women started bringing this milk in to the towns in Kenya. But it had no takers since the hygiene standards in the cities and rural areas are very different. Some of the milk that came had manure floating on top. So the women had to be taught cleanliness. There is scarcity of water where these women lived. We had to teach them how to clean their containers. We also taught them to boil the milk so that it would not go sour,” Bruntse tells you, who has a dairy on her in Kenya and has worked as a consultant for a variety of Government programmes and non-Government organisations, including Biovision Foundation for Ecological Development.
Bruntse’s job was to develop products that could last up to the next season and have some left for sale. She did lot of experiments — they managed to make ghee and made sweet cheese since the pastoralists don’t like salty cheese. Bruntse found that the ghee sold as did the cheese. The locales would use dried and slightly sour cheese in their sour porridge, which they love.
“The minute the hygiene standards improved, their milk had many takers and they did roaring business. Other women too wanted to know how to sell their milk and soon the hygiene became a norm. Also, an interesting way to ensure that the milk doesn’t go off, is to smoke it. This meant that people were willing to give a higher price for the milk. In fact, one is told that the cost of camel milk is almost five times that of cow or buffalo when it finds it way in supermarkets,” Bruntse says.
This could stem from the fact that pastoralists swear by camel milk and Ayurveda lists many benefits. It’s an open secret among alternative health experts and now it’s the turn of modern science to discover the virtues of camel milk.
One is also told that this is the only milk that has zero lactose — 70 per cent of our population is said to suffer lactose intolerance — and closest in constitution to human mothers’ milk, research is underway on its claimed anti-diabetic, anti-autism and anti-allergic properties. The locales (Kenya) say that it has medicinal properties and can cure ulcers. Apparently drinking camel milk for three months can in fact help many people on insulin go off it since it has pre-insulin compounds. “However, a lot more study and research has to be conducted before it can be proven for sure,” Bruntse tells you.
In India, there are NGOs who are selling camel milk locally. They are paturising it and putting them in small bottles, freezing them before they are shipped. The good part is that camel milk can sit in the fridge for up to 10 days without turning sour because of its anti-mircrobials.
Government departments to step up vigil to curb water-borne diseases
Well at a house in Jokatte, near Mangalore with contaminated water.
KOZHIKODE: Health and food safety departments have jointly initiated steps to put in place a mechanism to check the quality of water distributed by various agencies in the district. The additional district medical officer, who is also the district surveillance officer has directed the medical officers in the panchayats and block panchayats to take steps to check the quality of water from identified private and public water sources and chlorinate it to ensure that the public are getting safe drinking water.
The health department here is directly checking the identified water sources, which fall in the limits of grama panchayats and block panchayats. While the food safety officials concentrate on the water sources in the corporation and municipalities, special squads of the food safety department will continuously monitor all the private tanker lorries supplying drinking water. The move was taken to avoid supply of contaminated water which poses threat to public health.
Additional district medical officer Dr Asha Devi said, they have already issued direction to medical officers and some of them have commenced the work to chlorinate the public wells and to collect samples for testing from identified water sources to check its hygienic quality. "We have issued directions to prevent the outbreak of water-borne diseases as people will make use of all available drinking water sources with the strengthening of summer as severe drought is expected this year," said Dr Asha Devi.
District medical officer Dr R L Saritha said besides the medical officers some of the panchayats in the district have already formed their own mechanism to carry out periodical checking on hygienic quality of water in their respective panchayat limits. "We will submit a report to the concerned licencing authority on detecting supply of contaminated water by private agencies which will result in the cancellation of their licences," she said.
Meanwhile, food safety assistant commissioner O Sankaran Unni said the food safety department here has decided to take strict measures to check the quality of water supplied in tanker trucks in various parts of the district.
"We will carry out squad work to collect samples from tanker trucks to check its quality and also the sources from where these private parties fetch water for distribution in various parts of the district. Licence of the food safety department is mandatory for the supply of drinking water on tanker trucks by private parties. The license number should be displayed on the trucks distributing water,'' he said adding that the squads will be more active in the coming days.
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